Dandelion
by AbeilleN
Summary: If you blew out all the feathery seeds of a dandelion in one breath and made a wish, that wish would come true. That's what she was told once: now, because of him, she believed in that fact again.


Dandelion

Kawaii Kabu

Do Not Own.

Another NaruHina 1-shot that I'm uploading. I really should just finish the multichapter I've got going on but these little ideas keep popping up in my head and I have to write them down. It really distracts me. Inspiration brought on when my boyfriend told me that dandelions were the flowers that you made wishes on... I didn't believe him because I didn't know the name of that specific flower and dandelions are weeds with bright yellow petals. Boy did I feel embarrassed when he laughed at me for not knowing that they were the white fluffy flowers during their seed-flying stage... at age 18... do enjoy.

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><p>"Ne, Hinata, what's your favourite flower?" a small blonde girl asked her dark haired counter-part. They were in one of the many parks of their village, looking for flowers to arrange as part of their Kunochi-Espionage training.<p>

These two girls were from noble Konoha clans. Hinata was the heiress to one of the most powerful yet isolated clan in the village. Like the Uchiha clan, the Hyuuga had their own compound where they all lived. Hinata only started to intergrate with the general population of the village recently and was unused to the sights and sounds of the busy village. To overcompensate for her short, boyish-looking crop of hair her father instructed her maid to dress her in Kimono and dresses.

Today she was in a pink sundress and white sandals. Her maid insisted that she wore a sundress; it was warm weather and all of her kimonos would become dirty if she and her friend decided to ignore their assignment and play in the park like the regular children their age.

"I-I don't know I-Ino..." she responded, looking shyly to the side. She knew that this class would benefit her in the future but it was all too much. Hinata knew nothing of flowers, she was only six years old! All she knew about flowers were that they were pretty and came in many colours... and that her mother used to love them... and while her mother was ill and dying, flowers seemed to cheer her up.

Ino knew a lot more about flowers. Her family ran the best flower shop in the village, she was expected to take over it with her husband when she was of age. The blonde was also the sort of girly-girl who appreciated flowers a lot more than the regular girl. She took their flower-based classes very seriously as she knew all the meanings behind flowers and always made the most beautiful flower display. You would never guess from her attire, she was in a baggy T-shirt and 3/4 cargo shorts. Ino often played with boys; her two closest friends were male and wearing boyish clothing made it easier for her to play with them. She didn't have to worry about getting dirty with mud or blood from scraped knees.

"I like Lillies." Ino stated, "Even if they symbolise death... they are the most beautiful flowers." It was then that Hinata caught a glimpse of a flower that she was very familiar with.

Bright yellow. Many, tiny, feathery petals. An olive green stalk that was slightly frosted with dew that had clung to the miniscule hairs on the plant. Her mother hadn't liked those flowers at all, but Hinata loved them. Until she was three she'd never seen such bright colour before.

"I-I like those f-flowers." Hinata admitted. Ino's expert eyes flew towards the flowers that had captured her friend's attention.  
>"Hinata... those aren't flowers. Not the kind that I'm talking about. That's a weed- a dandelion." It was then that Hinata had gotten confused. No. Dandelions were fuzzy and white. When you tried to blow out all of the seeds your wish would come true if you did it in one breath.<br>"But t-they're so b-beautiful..."  
>"Not really. The roots strangle all the other plants. And its a strain on them too. When you kill the weed you have to kill the root or else it will just spring up again." Ino lectured. "Come on, let's go find some<em> proper <em>flowers." The blonde suggested while taking her companion's arm and dragging her further into the park.

.

At age twelve, the dandelion was still Hinata's favourite flower. Only now it wasn't just due to the fact that the bright colour appealed to her.

No.

The flower reminded her of the boy that she was in love with; one Naruto Uzumaki.

His hair was as bright as the petals and as wild as the mane of a lion. When he ran the wind whipped it around in such a manner that it ended up looking like her very favourite flower.

The dandelion was often hated as it was a weed, a strain on the beautiful garden's of the Konoha parks. Naruto too, was hated. She was unsure why, but many of the parents and older children eyed him warily. Her father had a great dislike for him, naming him a 'demon spawn' when news of the blond's pranks reached the Hyuuga compound.

But the feature most shared between Naruto and the dandelion was the resiliance. Often Naruto would come into the academy sporting numerous bruises and injuries. He would never report the person or people who did this to him... and his mood would never dampen. Even when beaten physically, his optimistic disposition would beam out of his cerulean eyes. Conveying his strength.

The strength she wished she had.

Even now she would watch him and silently cheer him on in his constant struggle of survival. Now that he was older and closer to graduating the Ninja Academy, the beatings had lessened. But he was still seperated from the other children when it was time to return home.

Today they all graduated as Konoha ninja. All in the class but one; Naruto didn't pass. While she and their classmates were celebrating their new ranks Naruto distanced himself from the throng of students and parents. He was the only one child to leave without an engraved forehead protector. The crowd slowly thinned as the new ninjas went out to cleebrate with family and friends, other than Naruto and herself, the area was empty.

Fear clutched at her heart when a senior Ninja appeared in front of Naruto. Hating herself for being too weak to view what she assumed would be another one of Naruto's unquestioned beatings- she ran home to prepare a salve for him. It would be placed at his door that night, the only way she could express her love was anonymously.

On the way home she found a dandelion. White with fuzz, waiting for the wind to blow its seeds away. Hinata picked up the olive stem, closed her white eyes and wished.

"Please let Naruto become a ninja with our class." she whispered before she blew on the flower with all her might. When her eyes opened she saw that she had managed to emancipate all of the seeds from the mother plant.

Hope that her wish would be answered filled her body. It hadn't worked before, but maybe this time it would.

She carried on to her walk home.

.

The following morning Hinata slowly made her way to the classroom. They were being assigned teams today. The hope to see Naruto daily had dwindled away... She'd forgotten that childhood superstitions didn't really work. At least if he had passed there would have been a _chance_ that she would have been placed on his team.

But God was not feeling kind.

And why should he be kind to a heiress with love troubles when there were still wars and people dying from famine?

She sighed and took her seat, looking at the table instead of around the room. What was the point in looking up if Naruto wasn't there like her favourite flower? She'd grown used to his presence three seats to the front and five to the left of her. She used to be able to watch him safely from a distance. No longer.

The classmates soon started to join the room, slowly it was filling with chattering voices. All fell silent and Hinata dared to look up. Naruto had entered the room, and on his forehead he proudly displayed the navy blue and silver headband that identified him as a certified shinobi.

Hinata's heart flew to her throat. There was still hope! A smile made its way across her face and she bowed her head in embarrassment- her cheeks were pink at just the possibility of being placed in his team. A fainting spell would probably claim her if they were to be team mates.

"Didn't you get kicked out of this class?" Sakura yelled at him. The blonde turned to her and shot her a comment that made her shut up until the teacher entered the room. It made Hinata's eyes water with happiness.

"All Hokages started off somewhere. Believe it."

Another thing about Naurto.

If you blew out all the feathery seeds of a dandelion in one breath and made a wish, that wish would come true. That's what she was told once: now, because of him, she believed in that fact again. But Naruto was able to achieve genin status. Her wish had come true.

At a time where she would have to give up her childhood for the good of becoming a village weapon, Naruto had made her believe in those childish things again.

.

Later she heard from her father that Naruto gained genin status because he was able to steal a scroll from the Hokage tower and learnt a forbidden technique. Despite the disaproval of her father Hinata beamed at the news.

Her wish had come true, a mysterious hand of fate had guided Naruto down the path to becoming the Hokage, just like he believed he would soon be. His actions stirred admiration and love from her heart. It made her want to change from the shy girl.

This goal made her walk on air almost, as she made her way to her team's first meeting.

"Hinata, why don't you tell us about yourself?" Kurenai instructed.  
>"M-my name is H-Hinata Hyuuga... um, I-I'm 12 years old a-and... I aspire to be l-like my favourite f-flower: a dandelion." Kiba's eyebrows rose.<br>"Aren't dandelions weeds? That's a pretty stupid aspiration."  
>"W-well yes... b-but they're deep rooted, a-and bright. T-they have healing q-qualities a-and they make wishes come t-true." she defended. The look on Kiba's face said that he wasn't buying it. She began to blush, but a reassuring nod from her new teacher caused Hinata to smile.<br>"Those are very good qualities for a ninja to have Hinata." Kurenai said before resuming the introduction.

One day, she would be someone's dandelion. She would be bright, she would be deeply rooted in her beliefs; in her ninja way, and she would make sure that her wishes reality. She was hoping that she would be Naruto's dandelion... No, she _would_ be Naruto's dandelion, as he was hers.

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><p>So what did you think? Was it decent? Constructive criticism please. I normally hate the fact that in the dub Naruto keeps yelling "BELIEVE IT!" but I felt it was highly appropriate in this story... did anyone else believe that if you blew away all the dandelion seeds that your wish would come true?<p> 


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